2 former Christie aides gets prison for bridge revenge plot

By David Porter

Published
1:46 pm PDT, Wednesday, March 29, 2017

NEWARK, N.J. — Two former aides to Gov. Chris Christie were sentenced to prison Wednesday for their roles in a political revenge plot involving traffic jams at the country’s busiest bridge, a scandal that sank the Republican’s presidential aspirations.

Bridget Kelly, 44, was sentenced to 18 months and Bill Baroni, 45, was sentenced to two years after they were convicted for their roles in the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal. Both must also serve 500 hours of community service.

They had been convicted in November of all the counts against them, including wire fraud, conspiracy and misusing the bridge for improper purposes. They had sought probation.

U.S. Judge Susan Wigenton told Baroni he misled a legislative committee when he tried to pass the gridlock off as a legitimate traffic study and later misled the jury with the same contention.

“It was completely intended to wreak havoc,” she said. “It only served a punitive purpose. You clearly knew, and know today, that it was not” legitimate.

Kelly, who sent the infamous “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email, wiped her eyes with a tissue when she was sentenced after Baroni and apologized, saying she never intended to cause harm.

“I accept responsibility for the tone of my emails and texts,” she said. “My emails and texts were disrespectful, and I am absolutely embarrassed by them. They don’t reflect who I am.”

The government’s star witness, David Wildstein, testified that he and the co-defendants had sought to retaliate against the Democratic mayor of nearby Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie’s re-election. Fort Lee was plunged into gridlock for four days in September 2013. Text messages and emails produced at trial showed Mayor Mark Sokolich’s increasingly desperate pleas for help being ignored by Kelly and Baroni.

“I let a lot of people down who believed in me and relied on me. Most of all I let Mark Sokolich down. That was my choice and my responsibility,” Baroni told the judge.

Christie was not charged with any wrongdoing. But his version of events — that he was not aware that anyone in his office was involved until months after the fact — was contradicted by testimony from Baroni, Kelly and Wildstein.